Twitter's yo-yo valuation reportedly stands at $9 billion

Staff cash-in offer ups the ante

Twitter is now worth an impressive $9 billion (UK£5.6 AUD$8.6), following a fresh round of investment, according to reports on Friday.

Giant US investment firm BlackRock has made an $80 million (UK£50.6, AUD$76.7) offer to early Twitter employees to buy their stock, the Financial Times claimed on Friday.

The FT said Twitter had facilitated the deal, allowing its staff to cash in, but will not raise any cash in the process.

The new valuation is up 10 per cent from Twitter's last round of fundraising in 2011, but lower than the alleged $11bn (UK£6.9, AUD$10.5) it was said to be worth following secondary stock trading late last year.

IPO set for 2014?

If the deal goes through, and all staff take up the option, BlackRock will own just under 1 per cent of Twitter. Both sides have declined to comment.

Twitter's increased valuation comes as it continues to look towards an IPO, which could happen in 2014, according to recent reports.

Although the company is "not in a rush" to go public, it appears to be unperturbed by the negative experiences of fellow web giants Zynga and Facebook.